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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2018 20:55:12 GMT
The bizarre tale of John Stonehouse could make a decent dark comedy, a Labour MP who spied for the Czechs (as did a Conservative MP at the same time!), got into financial trouble, faked his own death, got mistaken for Lord Lucan while on the run and who, after having conducted his own defence, was put away for fraud, his resignation turning Labour into a minority government reliant on the Liberals (see ‘This House’). Maybe not quite the high stakes of Thorpe but add in the whole mid seventies malaise and it might work.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2018 23:53:20 GMT
Bob Boothby was another very colourful character from that political era and could be an interesting subject for a drama.
I agree the Profumo story would make a great TV Series, Scandal was 30 years ago so giving it more time on TV and introducing it to a new audience would work.
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Post by david on May 30, 2018 22:28:16 GMT
With the great reception this drama has had, surely it must be up for some awards. I know that the big awards have been and gone, but what are the chances of it being recognised in next years nominations? Surely Hugh Grant must be in with a shout for his portrayal as Thorpe at the very least?
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 2, 2018 16:42:20 GMT
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Post by tommy on Jun 3, 2018 17:15:32 GMT
Another classy BBC series, great acting - just watch how brilliant Patricia Hodge performs in such a rather small part. Great music underscore too.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2018 17:28:10 GMT
I saw This House last night, and the programme spoilered what happened at Jeremy Thorpe's trial! I had managed to not know, and was feeling quite tense about tonight as I genuinely didn't know what was going to happen.
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Post by lynette on Jun 3, 2018 18:42:39 GMT
O Elanor, what bad luck.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2018 19:32:55 GMT
I mean... I know it's 40 year old news and everything, so it's not really a spoiler, but I was just that tiny bit too young at the time and although I remember Jeremy Thorpe, and vaguely knew he had been 'disgraced' but had not idea of the details despite (and now I'm really ashamed of myself) having got a degree in politics. Oh well. I genuinely had no idea what would happen in Frost/Nixon either.
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Post by alece10 on Jun 3, 2018 21:16:04 GMT
Bunnies.
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Post by david on Jun 3, 2018 21:33:27 GMT
As this great drama draws to a close tonight, Aidan Turner returns next week (clothes optional).
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Post by alece10 on Jun 3, 2018 21:46:42 GMT
Absolutely loved this. The first 2 episodes belonged to Hugh Grant but I think tonight's belongs to Ben Wishaw. He was hilarious.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 0:13:46 GMT
Brilliant. I found it very moving when Thorpe revealed the danger involved in casual sexual encounters...I really think that a lot of people from that era deserve some form of compensation for what they endured. I am looking forward to seeing Rupert Everett's film about Oscar Wilde, another very English scandal and another person whose life was ruined because of his sexuality.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 6:31:24 GMT
I can’t remember the last time I looked forward to watching something this much on TV...
Outstanding in every way- script, cast, direction, production, and- of course- the story itself which really takes some believing!
I actually loved the fact it was short and sweet in its three distinct acts. And I loved how they suddenly shifted the tone with the music in the final moments of last night’s episode as they wrapped it all up with the real figures. Ironic, especially after the weekend news, that the only one missing seemed to be the “assasssin”...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 8:50:03 GMT
Absolutely loved this. The first 2 episodes belonged to Hugh Grant but I think tonight's belongs to Ben Wishaw. He was hilarious.I agree. We all know that he can be an incredibly delicate, emotive dramatic actor but I think in this series he showed just how much of a really rather wonderful comic actor he can be. Nice to see Huge Grant slowly morphing into Edward Fox too.
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Post by tonyloco on Jun 4, 2018 11:27:43 GMT
Totally brilliant in every way.
There has been a small amount of complaining that it was too funny, but an article in the Telegraph recently pointed out that serious matters can be treated in a humorous manner and it does not reduce their seriousness, as with Shakespeare in '12th Night'. For me personally, some of the things I found most shocking were those I laughed loudest at, like the Judge's highly coloured and unfair description of Scott in his disgracefully prejudiced summing up to the jury when he virtually instructed them to find Thorpe not guilty.
By comparison, I found the previously unseen documentary on BBC4 afterwards heavy going and not nearly as informative as the miniseries, not to mention entertaining!
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Post by justfran on Jun 4, 2018 11:57:33 GMT
I agree with a lot of the comments so far. I really enjoyed this mini series, great acting from both Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw. Shame it’s almost a year until the next BAFTAs - surely this deserves plenty of nominations?
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Post by richey on Jun 4, 2018 14:51:26 GMT
Another classy BBC series, great acting - just watch how brilliant Patricia Hodge performs in such a rather small part. Great music underscore too. She was rather good. The delivery of that last line on the balcony was brilliant. This series has been fabulous. To think I almost missed it, but saw the first episode featured on Gogglebox (please don't judge!) and decided I had to catch up with it.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 4, 2018 16:11:52 GMT
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Post by tmesis on Jun 4, 2018 17:57:19 GMT
I echo everyone else's praise - it was completely brilliant. I also thought Adrian Scarborough was fantastic as George Carmen.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 18:20:27 GMT
^ Agreed. Carman himself was a real character by all accounts, and continued to find fame after the Thorpe trial in many, many famous cases including those of Ken Dodd, Lord Janner and Gillian Taylforth to name but a few. More information here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carman
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 4, 2018 18:47:39 GMT
After all the high praise on here, I am very tempted to download this on my Ipad, however being an animal lover - I don't think I could bear to see where to dog gets shot.
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Post by alece10 on Jun 4, 2018 19:26:02 GMT
After all the high praise on here, I am very tempted to download this on my Ipad, however being an animal lover - I don't think I could bear to see where to dog gets shot. Animal lover too but it's just a few seconds and not really graphic. Plus if watching on demand you can just ff that bit. Really worth watching the series.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 4, 2018 19:31:38 GMT
The dog was a brilliant actor and is alive and well apparently.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 20:35:49 GMT
The dog was a brilliant actor and is alive and well apparently. According to the Radio Times website, “the canine actor” had a first cover, second cover, third cover, fourth cover and fifth cover...! I quote: Four or five “Rinkas” were used in the process of filming, and in that scene alone, three different canine actors were used... The production team also had two dummy dogs: a “fake dog standing” and a “fake dog lying”.That’s more bloody covers than Grizabella the glamour cat ever had at the New London... 😹 I can just hear the fans of any future musical version of this: “Rex was on last night for Rinka. He was amazing! Have Rex’s holiday dates been announced? I really want to catch Fido before the end of the run...”
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Post by david on Jun 4, 2018 20:48:53 GMT
Just caught up with the last episode tonight. I have to say this episode definitely belongs to Ben Wishaw. He absolutely steals every scene that he’s in and the way he delievers the comedy is fantastic. I would love to see him do more comedy stuff in the future.
Overall, this has been an actual pleasure to watch over the last 3 weeks and I would definitely watch this again. I’m not normally one for downloading series, though in this case I will be making an exception. The writing by RTD has been first rate, though I have enjoyed all the stuff he has done. Along with casting Hugh Grant, which in my opinion has been a masterstroke by the BBC. The BBC has put out some duff stuff, but every so often like Call the Midwife, The Agatha Christie specials and now this drama, it’s nice to see the licence fee being put to use for great productions.
Let’s hope that the writing and cast get the recognition in future award seasons that is thoroughly warranted.
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